Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday doesn’t lose fingernails to worrying. He entered Sunday with one hit, admitting his at-bats in the NLCS had been “pretty awful.” The key to returning to form, he said, was punishing mistakes. Holliday, the Rockies’ leading contender for NL MVP, launched a home run in his first at-bat and singled in the seventh, snapping out of his slump. “I finally got one on the barrel,” Holliday said. “I had been fouling off pitches I normally hit.”

Human stop sign. Instead of running wild, as they hoped, the D-backs haven’t stolen a base against the Rockies. Part of the credit goes to the pitchers varying their deliveries to the plate and the middle infielders holding runners.

This is why he’s hot. Brad Hawpe has quietly enjoyed a solid postseason, lengthening the lineup with key at-bats. His sixth-inning single helped set up Yorvit Torrealba’s home run. Hawpe has seven hits in the playoffs.